Technical Field
The present invention relates to a photothermal conversion image generating device, a three-dimensional image forming system, and a computer readable storage medium.
Background Art
To date, there are known methods and systems that are used to form a three-dimensional image by forming via printing a photothermal conversion layer, which converts light into heat, on a medium (for example, a thermally expandable sheet) having on one surface thereof an expandable layer that expands in accordance with the amount of heat absorbed thereby, and then causing parts of the expandable layer where the photothermal conversion layer is formed on the medium to expand by being heated via irradiation of light (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. S64-28660, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-150812). Here, the term “light” includes infrared light as well as visible light.
The thus-formed three-dimensional image can be utilized as an effective information source by a visually impaired person, for example. For example, a map can be realized using a three-dimensional image by raising up lines that represent paths on the map so that the lines have a protruding shape. A visually impaired person is able to grasp the contents illustrated by the map by touching the three-dimensional image map. Hereafter, such a three-dimensional image map may be referred to as a “tactile map.”